Our love grew from serendipity and chance meetings. For two years, we walked the same halls and ran in the same social circles, before we officially met. A friend of mine had invited me to their birthday party at an ice rink; for obvious reasons to anyone who has met me, I was tempted to stay home. Ultimately, I decided to leave my comfort zone and go anyway. Unbeknownst to me, Victor had also been invited and this would be our first official meeting. I approached him and helped with renting and buying his entry and equipment. I was just as lost as he was, but we navigated the concession stand together. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I did not know how to skate and truth be told, I don’t like falling. While I was glued to the edge of the rink, Victor had already figured it all out within the first 15 minutes on the ice. True to his adventurous- and slightly annoying- spirit, he persisted I join him. He pried me from the safe spot I had established against the wall, and I followed wobbly in tow. The whole time I was terrified I’d fall on my butt in front of everyone and warned him, he’d be collateral damage if I went down. Victor thought I was hysterical and just laughed at me the whole time. I didn’t realize it then but that would be the first of many times Victor would open me up to new experiences.

For our proposal, I was determined to keep everything a surprise. I had picked out her ring early in 2023 after finishing school and starting my job as a Paramedic. To throw her off the scent, I convinced her that I'd be proposing on our anniversary, February 2, 2024. Months before the big day, I started planning with a little help from my family. I decided on a proposal in Hawaii and organized every detail—flights, a shuttle, a rental car, and a gorgeous resort. I told her we’d be staying at an Airbnb in San Diego for her birthday, and that my parents wanted to have breakfast with us, which meant picking up my dad from the airport. With her sister’s help, we packed up and headed to the airport. I played it cool, telling her to get out of the car because we were actually flying somewhere else. She was curious and kept asking where we were headed. I told her our first stop was Arizona to see the Grand Canyon before heading back to California. When we landed, I finally revealed that our destination wasn’t Arizona—it was Hawaii! After we landed and collected our luggage, we hopped into our rental car. As I pretended to load our bags, I secretly tucked the ring into my boot. We drove to a secluded beach where I set up for some photos. I asked her to turn around, got down on one knee, and popped the question with the stunning ocean as our backdrop.